Ah….November. The leaves have turned colors and are falling to the ground, the tempertures are dropping, and the number of ultra events are slowly decreasing as we prepare for the “feasting” holidays in November and December. However, one ultra runner that is showing no signs of slowing down is Geoff Roes. Roes, of Juneau Alaska, added to his list of 2009 victories with a first place finish at the Mountain Masochist 50 Mile (6:27:55), thirty minutes ahead of second place finisher Lon Freeman (6:58:25). The USATF Marathon Trail Championships also took place at the Lithia Loop Trail Marathon last weekend with Max King (2:40:23) topping Sam Robinson (2:42:54) by a slim margin of 2 minutes to take the overall title. On the women’s side of things, Cynthia Arnold (3:08:42) took top honors, followed by Becca Ward (3:16:14), Devon Crosby-Helms (3:16:20), Krissy Moehl (3:17:58) and Ellen Parker (3:30:40). For more detailed coverage of the Mountain Masochist 50 mile, Lithia Loop Trail Marathon, and Stone Cat 50 mile, check out iRunFar’s post covering those races. Moving on to this weekend, here is a look at just a few of the races/events taking place on the weekend of Saturday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15…..

We begin with the 14th Annual Rockledge Rumble (50k, 30k and 15k options) taking place on Saturday in Rockledge Park in Grapevine, Texas. The course is on the beautiful and rugged Northshore Trail along the scenic shore of Lake Grapevine. The terrain is rocky and provides a challenge for even the fittest of athletes. The 30k goes out-and-back from Jackson Pavilion to the turnaround. The 50k course is one long out-and-back to the turnaround, then one shorter out-and-back.

Oh, do we love this one! The Upchuck 50k, yes that’s right, the Upchuck 50k, is set for its second official running this weekend in Cumberland Trail, Tennessee. The course is a point-to-point trail race that is run entirely on the technically challenging single track of the Cumberland Trail. The course has huge climbs and huge descents into Soddy Creek, Possum Creek and Rock Creek. It will, “without a doubt, go down in the race log as one of the best 50k courses you will ever do”. We don’t just love this race simply because of its logo…it also comes with its own warning – “Please do not attempt this run as your first 50k. This is a serious endeavor and will quite possibly be your slowest 50k to date. Let us reiterate: this is seriously difficult.”

Speaking of events with warnings, how about the UltimateXC Moab in Moab, Utah (50k, 20 mile and 10 mile). In an area known for its mountain biking, this event will take runners though the spectacular terrain on foot. Yet, BEWARE – “No bab(ies) allowed. Most of our distance(s) advertised are wrong. For instance, our 10 miler turned out to be a 13 miler. Our 20 miler was really a 24 miler, and our 50km was in reality a 56km.” Wait, there’s more. “This is not a normal or standard 50km. The Ultimate Xc Moab Edition 50km is considered as one of the hardest 50km on the planet. Most of our participants will attest that this is as hard as a 50 miler. As a rule of thumb, if you can run a 50k in 6 hours, count on running this one in 9 hours. Yes, 50% more time to complete the same distance. If this sound(s) like a daunting task, this race is probably not for you.”

This Week In Running (Week of 8/8 & 8/9) All Quiet on the Western Front….or is it ? Well, we certainly are not talking about the novel first published in November and December 1928 in the German newspaper Vossische...